Abstract
Based on recent progress in mathematical physics, we present a reliable method to analytically solve the linearized Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) gap equation for a large class of finite-range interaction potentials leading to s-wave superconductivity. With this analysis, we demonstrate that the monotonic growth of the superconducting critical temperature Tc with the carrier density n predicted by standard BCS theory, is an artifact of the simplifying assumption that the interaction is quasilocal. In contrast, we show that any well-defined nonlocal potential leads to a “superconducting dome,” i.e., a nonmonotonic Tc(n) exhibiting a maximum value at finite doping and going to zero for large n. This proves that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the presence of a superconducting dome is not necessarily an indication of competing orders, nor of exotic superconductivity.
Published
Physical Review Letters
Links
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.157001
